Point-presser, sleeve-board combination



Feb? 1965 E. ML-JOHNSON 3,167,872

POINT-PRESSER, SLEEVE-BOARD COMBINATION Filed Oct. 1, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 F ig. 6 INVENTOR.

' EMIL M. JOHNSON BY WHlTjEl-(EAD, VOGL a LOWE PER ATTORNEYS 1965 E. M. JOHNSON POINT-PRESSER, SLEEVE-BOARD COMBINATION 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1962 INVENTOR. EMIL- M. JOHNSON BY WHITEHEAD, VOGL a LOWE JZM (3% ATTORNEYS 1965 E. M. JOHNSON POINT-PRESSER, SLEEVE-BOARD COMBINATION Filed 001'.- l, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 E .Nw mOw T S 8 m L w m I V. .0 MM H WW Y ATTORNEYS Feb. 2, 1965 E. M- JOHNSON 3,167,872

POINT-PRESSER,' SLEEVE-BOARD COMBINATION Filed Oct. 1, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet. 4

Fig. 14

Q INVENTOR. E MIL M. JOHNSON u WHITEHEAD, VOGL a LOWE l j v-k ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,167,872 PQINT-PRESSER, SLEEVE-BOARD CtlMhiNATilBN Emil M. Johnson, 3131 W. 19th Ave, Denver, Coin. Filed Get. 1, i962, fier. No. 227,355 3 Claims. (Cl. 38-135) This invention relates to ironing and pressing equipment and more particularly to small ironing boards for use in fancy iron work such as for ironing or pressing points, pleats and sleeves.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved combination ironing board having as a basic component, a point presser for ironing or pressing corners, points, and the like, and as a secondary component, a sleeve board which is adapted to be mounted upon the point presser when it is used. As such, the invention will be hereinafter referred to as a point-presser, sleeve-board combination.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved point presser for ironing or pressing corners, points and which is particularly adapted for the turning and finishing of the points of collars, corners, and like items.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved double-end point presser for the turning and finishing of collar points and like corners which is equally adapted to neatly and effectively press and finish sharp and rounded points.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved point presser which is formed as a balanced design upon a well-proportioned base, to constitute a lightweight, easily-portable unit which is sufliciently rugged to withstand considerable use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved point presser which is formed as a lightweight unit which may be used as a clapper in connection with other pressing and ironing operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved point-presser sleeve-board combination wherein the point presser serves as a base to receive and hold the sleeve board thereon in a secure, balanced manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a pointpresser, sleeve-board combination, wherein the sleeve board which may be mounted upon the point presser, a novel and simplified means for quickly and easily engaging and disengaging the sleeve board into and off from the point presser.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a pointpresser, sleeve-board combination which is a simple,

' rugged, low-cost unit, which is adapted to be folded into a compact package, and is an easy-to-use versatile accessory for conventional ironing or pressing equipment.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, all of which more fully hereinafter appear, my invention comprises certain novel and improved constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts and elements as hereinaiter described, defined in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of the improved pointpresser, sleeve-board combination ironing board with the sleeve board being in place, the view being directed downwardly and toward one corner to illustrate the top, the left side and the back end of the unit.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 1 but with the sleeve board attachment being removed to show the point presser per se.

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of the combination with the sleeve board being in place, but with the view being directed upwardly and toward the corner opposite from that of FIG. 1 to illustrate the underside, the right side and the front end of the unit.

FIGURE 4- is an end-elevational View as taken from the indicated arrow 4 at FIG. 1.

FEGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail of the rear end portion of the combination as taken from the indicated line 55 at FIG. 4.

FIGURE 6 is a side view of an unfinished collar portion in the wrong-side-out position, illustrative of an item which is especially adapted to be turned and finished by the improved point presser.

FIGURES 7-12 show isometric views of a portion of the point presser and of its use in the various steps of pressing before and after turning the collar, illustrated at FIGURE 6, to finish it.

FIGURE 13 is a side view of the collar corner of FIG. 6 after it has been finished.

FIGURE 14 is a side view similar to FIG. 13 but illustrating a rounded co lar point.

In ironing operations and especially in commercial ironing operations, certain special types of auxiliary ironing boards and pressers are needed for holding particular portions of a garment which cannot be properly pressed on a conventional ironing board. Sleeve boards and various types of point pressers have been used for such purposes, and the present invention was conceived and developed to provide, essentially, a combination of a sleeve board and an improved point presser as a simple, versatile unit. The invention comprises, in essence: first, an improved constructionof a double-end point presser for pressing and finishing various types of points and corners; and secondly, a simplified form of a sleeve board which is adapted to be quickly and easily attached to or removed from the point presser.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the improved point-presser, sleeve-board combination is preferably a small unit approximately twelve inches long, three inches wide and five inches high. It is mounted upon a flat base 10, and a flattened body 11 upstands from this base with its upper surface 12 forming a pressing surface as hereinafter described. Anelongated sleeve board 13 is detachably mounted upon the upper surface 12 of the body 11, as clearly illustrated at FIGS. 1, 3 and 4.

The point presser body is preferably about three-fourths inch thick, about twelve inches long and approximately three and one half inches high. The sides of this cornparatively narrow body are thus parallel and permit the body to be slid between parallel guide strips, as will be hereinafter described. Viewed from the side, it is shaped somewhat like an anvil. A central column 14 upstands from the base lit and tapering arms 15 and 16 outstand from each side of this base to define the front and rear ends of the unit. Each side of the columnportion 14 underneath an arm is suitably curved to fair into the tapered undersurface of the adjacent arm, and the undersur-face of each arm slopes upwardly to intersect the flat plane of the top surface 12 at each outer end of the unit. The arm 15 forming the front end of the point presser is also tapered at the sides to form an ironing point 17 while the rear arm 16 is flattened and rounded'to form a spatula-like tongue 18 to press round points and like areas diificult to reach in sewing, Moreover, the angle of the undersurface of the arm 16, with respect to the top surface of the body is substantially less than the normal holding critical frictional angle formed between the undersurface of the sleeve board 13 and the opposing upper surface of a holding means attached to the sleeve board below its undersurface as will be hereinafter described.

The point presser body is preferably made of wood and preferably a select grade of a close-grained hardwood such as birch or maple. It is essential that the wood forming this'point presser be well dried and adapted to resist the heat and steam action encountered in ordinary pressing or ironing operations. Moreover, the material dentallysnag the threads of a delicate fabric being ironed or pressed upon the pointer or tongue.

The base 10, which supports this point presser is preferably a flat woooden member and is preferably of the same material and finished to the same high degree of smoothness as is the body 11 for the unit is ideally formed to be gripped by an operator grasping the body 11 to use the base as a clapper or spanker in connection with pressing operations, particularly on woolen garments. Its length corresponds with that of the point presser body 11 and it is wide enough to insure lateral stability when the body is standing upright. The point presser body 11 upstands from the base at a symmetrically-centered position and it may be secured solidly to the base in any suitable manner such as by wood screws 1 e or a mortice and tenon joint or the like. However, in the preferred construction as illustrated by the drawing, it is secured by a hinge 19 at one side of the body 11, and a hook-eye latch 20 at the other side of the body. With this arrangement, the body 11 may be folded to a flattened position against the base 10 to facilitate pack.- aging and storage of the unit when it is not in use.

The sleeve board 13 is somewhat'longer than the point presser and is preferably made of'a similar material having a thickness of approximately three-fourths of an inch and a width of about three inches. This sleeve board will taper slightly toward a rounded front end 21 Which will ordinarily be inserted into the sleeve of a garment. The opposite rear end 22 is generally squared but with rounded corners to avoid sharp edges thereon. While the board may be finished as a smooth wood surface, the upper and side surfaces of the board are preferably padded with a conventional ironing board padding material such as heat-resistant cloth 23, illustrated at FIG. 5.

The sleeve board is detachably secured to the point presser with the underside of the board resting upon the top surface 12 of the point presser body 11 as if the point presser body were a standard for supporting the sleeve board. In the present invention an improved, arrangement for securing the sleeve board to the point presser is possible by taking advantage of the general fiat form of the point presser body 11 and of the ma-. terial from which it is made. Except for the extended point, the width of this point presser is substantially constant throughout its longitudinal reach. Therefore, two spaced guide strips 24 are affixed to the undersurface of the sleeve board 13 inspacedparallelism andat a spacing corresponding with the thickness of the point presser body 11. This spacing forms a guideway at the underside of the sleeve board which is adapted to snugly receive the upper portionof the point presser body 11 as in the manner illustrated at FIGS. 3 and 4. These guide strips may be secured tothe underside of the sleeve of the armthereofabutting against the threads of the,

bolt 26 as clearly illustrated at FIGS. 3 and 5.

The bolt is preferably a stove bolt of conventional construction having rolled threads, and when these threads engage against the underside of the tapered arm they will naturally bite into the wood forming the arm toform an automatic ,lock. It follows that to efiectively engage the sleeve board 13 onto the supper surface of the point presser body 11, the sleeve boardis merely set into position with the top of the point presser body and with the body being between the guide strips 24' but with the sleeve board being ofiset longitudinally. A quick longitudinal movement to push the rear arm 16 of the point presser against-the bolt 26 locks the sleeve board in place by a locking frictional action of the arm 16 between the underside of the sleeve board andthe bolt. When it is desired to remove this sleeve board, a light tap on the front end 21 is all that is required to release the threads from engagement with the undersurface of the rear arm 16 of the body 11.

The improved point presser is especially useful in operations to turn and finish the points of collars and the like. FIGURES 6-14 illustrate such collars and. the primary steps of a simplified procedure for turning and finishing the collars with the improved point presser. The collar C is sewn to form by stitching cloth layers together, as at S, along. longitudinal and transverse edges of the collar with the stitching coming to a point P. The collar is then in a wrong-side-out position and in order to be turned along the stitched seams, the seam edges must be backfolded against the body of the collar. Also, in order to eliminate piling up at the point, when this backfolding occurs, some of the material of the seam edges maybe cut away as at the diagonal cut K at FIG. 6. Proper turning to provide a precisely formed flat collar is generally considered a diificult and tricky operation by seamstresses.

To simplify such an operation, the first step, as illustrated at FIG. 7, is to place the collar C over the point of the arm 15 with the longitudinal seam at the top. An iron I is then passed over the collar to press the seam edges fiat, as illustrated at FIG. 8. Next, the operation is repeated by placing the transverse end of the collar over the point of the arm 15 as illustrated at FIG. 9. Again the transverse seam edges are pressed flatly as illustrated at FIG. 10.

Next, the collar is inverted to its right-side-out position and the longitudinal side isagain placed over. the point pressenas illustrated at FIG. 11 for again pressing seam edges which are now within the collar. Next, the transverse end of the collar is placed over the point, as illustrated at FIG. 12 and the transverse seam is again pressed with thesearn edges being spread apart and within the collar. Finally, the collar is pressed fiatupon a regular ironing board or upon the sleeve. board to the finished form as illustrated at FIG.]13. With this operation the finished point P of the collar is neat and sharp with-the stitching S being precisely at the edge of the collar. 7 1 I a The spatula-shaped end 18 of the point presser rear arm 16 is especially adapted'to finish rounded point by a procedure similar to that described above and to form a flattened collar C having a rounded point P such as illustrated at FIG; 14.

The-operations which are specifically illustrated and above described are exemplary uses of the point presser, and it is immediately apparentthat any skilled seamstress will find other ways of advantageously using both the pointed end 17 and the rounded end 18 of this unit.

1. In combination with a point presserformed of select, close-grained Wood such as maple and having a base,

a comparatively narrow, fiat body upstanding therefrom having parallel sides and being formed as a central colutnn portion'affixed to the base, an arm outstanding from each side thereof, with the top of the column portion and the arms, forming a fiat, narrow top surface across ,this body and with the undersurface of one arm being inclined upwardly and outward-ly to define, with the top surface, a fiat-angled wedge-shaped end; a flat, elongate sleeve board attachment having a length substantially the length of the body and being adapted to be detachably mounted onto the top of said body, a pair of parallel guide strips depending from the undersurface of the sleeve board adapted to snugly embrace the body when mount- -ed thereon and being adapted to permit longitudinal movement of the sleeve board with respect to the body when the top surface of the body is against the undersurface of the sleeve board between the strips, and a transverse holding means between the guide strips spaced below the undersurface of the sleeve board adapted to permit the wedge-shaped end of said pointpresser to be slidably wedged between the undersurface of the sleeve board and the holding means, and wherein the angle of said wedge-shaped endiis substantiallyless than the normal holding critical frictional angle formedi between the undersurface of the sleeve board and the upper surface of the holding means, whereby to frictionally'secure the I sleeve board onto the point presser body.

2. In the unit defined in claim l'wherein said holding means comprises a bolt between the guide strips and near one end thereof, the bolt being spaced below the under surface of the sleeve board sufficient to permit the wedgeshaped endof the body to be driven between the undersurface of the sleeve board and the bolt, whereby to facilitate wedging the sleeve board on the body.

cilitate wedging and frictional gripping of the sleeve board in place on the body.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 507,221 10/93 Harksen 38137 X 609,433 8/98 Hearson 287-'53 935,184 9/09 Bacon et al. 38-136 X 2,821,797 2/58 Misovichiet a1 38-141 i FOREIGN PATENTS 192,558 11/37 Switzerland.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

, THOMAS HICKEY,Exnminer. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A POINT PRESSER FORMED OF SELECT, CLOSE-GRAINED WOOD SUCH AS MAPLE AND HAVING A BASE, A COMPARATIVELY NARROW, FLAT BODY UPSTANDING THEREFROM HAVING PARALLEL SIDES AND BEING FORMED AS A CENTRAL COLUMN PORTION AFFIXED TO THE BASE, AN ARM OUTSTANDING FROM EACH SIDE THEREOF, WITH THE TOP OF THE COLUMN PORTION AND THE ARMS FORMING A FLAT, NARROW TOP SURFACE ACROSS THIS BODY AND WITH THE UNDERSURFACE OF ONE ARM BEING INCLINED UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY TO DEFINE, WITH THE TOP SURFACE, A FLAT-ANGLED WEDGE-SHAPED END; A FLAT, ELONGATE SLEEVE BOARD ATTACHMENT HAVING A LENGTH SUBSTANTIALLY THE LENGTH OF THE BODY AND BEING ADAPTED TO BE DETACHABLY MOUNTED ONTO THE TOP OF SAID BODY, A PAIR OF PARALLEL GUIDE STRIPS DEPENDING FROM THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE SLEEVE BOARD ADAPTED TO SNUGLY EMBRACE THE BODY WHEN MOUNTED THEREON AND BEING ADAPTED TO PERMIT LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT OF THE SLEEVE BOARD WITH RESPECT TO THE BODY WHEN THE TOP SURFACE OF THE BODY IS AGAINST THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE SLEEVE BOARD BETWEEN THE STRIPS, AND A TRANSVERSE HOLDING MEANS BETWEEN THE GUIDE STRIPS SPACED BELOW THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE SLEEVE BOARD ADAPTED TO PERMIT THE WEDGE-SHAPED END OF SAID POINT PRESSER TO BE SLIDABLY WEDGED BETWEEN THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE SLEEVE BOARD AND THE HOLDING MEANS, AND WHEREIN THE ANGLE OF SAID WEDGE-SHAPED END IS SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE NORMAL HOLDING CRITICAL FRICTIONAL ANGLE FORMED BETWEEN THE UNDERSURFACE OF THE SLEEVE BOARD AND THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE HOLDING MEANS, WHEREBY TO FRICTIONALLY SECURE THE SLEEVE BOARD ONTO THE POINT PRESSER BODY. 